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"But we can't work out why this has been so bad for hedgehogs with broken legs, we don't think it has anything to do with climate change at this time and we can't make any sense of it.

"It is possibly because of the attention the decline in hedgehog numbers has been getting and now people are looking out for them more and bringing them in to use which would be great news."

An x-ray showing the broken leg of a hedgehog

The hedgehogs, who have been brought in from around the country, are cared for at the centre on Randalls Road, with all of them being x-rayed to assess the damage to their legs and work out appropriate treatment.

Mr Cowell said that this sort of injury to their back legs can often prove fatal.

"All of the hedgehogs will have to have operations from a specialist orthopaedic surgeon to repair their back legs," he said.

"Their back legs are especially important as they use them to scratch behind their ears. If they can't do this then they can get mites that cause terrible infections that often kill them."